Progressive Politics UK
Monday, July 28, 2003
On a lighter note… What a great sporting weekend! I was privileged to watch a truly classic King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot on Saturday. Alamshar was a worthy winner. At the same time Michael Vaughan was coming to England’s rescue and almost single-handedly saving the follow on. Add to this Chelsea’s deserved victory in the Asia Cup and things couldn’t be better.
However, pride of place must go to two men… Lance Armstrong and Hamilton Tyler. Together they have proved that it’s still possible to be an All-American hero and have the French and the world love them!
However, pride of place must go to two men… Lance Armstrong and Hamilton Tyler. Together they have proved that it’s still possible to be an All-American hero and have the French and the world love them!
Okay let me make clear my position on the whole “Iraq war”, “Weapons of Mass Destruction”, “Dodgy Dossier”, “Dr Kelly” thing. I supported the war but with my eyes wide open. The lack of Al Qaeda/ Saddam connection was self-evident and Saddam was never a clear and present danger. However, he was an evil man and the job started in 1990 needed completing. His presence in such a strategic region as the Gulf was destabilising for the whole Middle East. So yes, I am happy that a “war of example” was fought for control of the world’s oil reserves.
However, I do take issue with how the war was sold to the British people. I am far from convinced that the Iraqis could have fired any weapons of mass destruction in 45 months what about 45 minutes. Saddam would have used WMDs if he'd had them! He was cornered, had nothing to lose and had not refrained from their use previously. Therefore a rigorous journalist investigation of the Government’s allegations were necessary in a liberal democracy such as our own.
It is regretful that it has taken the death of Dr Kelly to lead to a judicial inquiry. The parliamentary committees have proved ineffective at getting to the truth and the Official Opposition has maintained its usual levels of political ineptitude.
For my part I want to read the inquiries findings on why Dr Kelly was talking to Andrew Gilligan and other journalists in the first place. Surely he had signed the Official Secrets Act and was therefore committing an offence by doing so? The usual reasons for talking to the press are either for the monetary reward or due to a crisis of conscience. With Dr Kelly I suspect there was a third motive. He was playing the game. Clearly a very intelligent man, he no doubt enjoyed having the ear of both the Government and the journalists. Unfortunately, unlike the people he was dealing with, he will not have the opportunity to redeem a battered reputation with the inevitable lucrative memoir.
However, I do take issue with how the war was sold to the British people. I am far from convinced that the Iraqis could have fired any weapons of mass destruction in 45 months what about 45 minutes. Saddam would have used WMDs if he'd had them! He was cornered, had nothing to lose and had not refrained from their use previously. Therefore a rigorous journalist investigation of the Government’s allegations were necessary in a liberal democracy such as our own.
It is regretful that it has taken the death of Dr Kelly to lead to a judicial inquiry. The parliamentary committees have proved ineffective at getting to the truth and the Official Opposition has maintained its usual levels of political ineptitude.
For my part I want to read the inquiries findings on why Dr Kelly was talking to Andrew Gilligan and other journalists in the first place. Surely he had signed the Official Secrets Act and was therefore committing an offence by doing so? The usual reasons for talking to the press are either for the monetary reward or due to a crisis of conscience. With Dr Kelly I suspect there was a third motive. He was playing the game. Clearly a very intelligent man, he no doubt enjoyed having the ear of both the Government and the journalists. Unfortunately, unlike the people he was dealing with, he will not have the opportunity to redeem a battered reputation with the inevitable lucrative memoir.
Today sees the release of Tony Martin … I wholeheartedly backed the view that he deserved to go to jail. Although I can understand the emotions that would lead a man to protect his property, the shooting of a teenage burglar in the back is clearly a step to far. Manslaughter was a just punishment for the crime. There is no place in a civilised society for any sort of vigilantism.
Having said this, I’m horrified by the revelation that the second burglar, Brendan Fearon, has also been released today after serving less than a third of an 18 month sentence for an unconnected conviction for heroin dealing. A career criminal, with more than thirty convictions, he makes a mockery of our legal system. Rehabilitation is a waste of time and money for him and if ever a man advertised the merits of a “three strikes and you’re out” Mr Fearon does.
Mr Martin has now done his time and he should now be left alone to live his life in peace. If Mr Fearon or his friends and relatives show any signs of pursuing this vendetta that is rumoured, then the whole force of the law should be brought down on them as firmly as it was on Tony Martin!
Having said this, I’m horrified by the revelation that the second burglar, Brendan Fearon, has also been released today after serving less than a third of an 18 month sentence for an unconnected conviction for heroin dealing. A career criminal, with more than thirty convictions, he makes a mockery of our legal system. Rehabilitation is a waste of time and money for him and if ever a man advertised the merits of a “three strikes and you’re out” Mr Fearon does.
Mr Martin has now done his time and he should now be left alone to live his life in peace. If Mr Fearon or his friends and relatives show any signs of pursuing this vendetta that is rumoured, then the whole force of the law should be brought down on them as firmly as it was on Tony Martin!
Thursday, July 17, 2003
Well today Blair jumps from the frying pan into the fire. The crisis of confidence that has been engulfing the Blair regime over the past few weeks has finally caught hold in Washington. It’s been a slow burner for weeks but the tipping point appears to have not been the open revolt of soldiers from the US 3rd Infantry Division on prime time US TV. These are the guys who took Baghdad in record time.
They did the job they were asked to do and they did it well! Supposedly rotating out of active duty about now having been replaced by the 4th Infantry and 1st Armoured Divisions, instead they still languish in the Sunni triangle, attacked daily by Iraq irregulars. Little wonder then that one 3ID sergeant says he has his own ‘Most Wanted’ list. "The aces in my deck are Paul Bremer, Donald Rumsfeld, George Bush and Paul Wolfowitz," he said. He was referring to the four men who are running U.S. policy here in Iraq. When the reporter asked, "If Donald Rumsfeld were sitting here in front of us, what would you say to him?" Spc. Clinton Deitz put up his hand. "If Donald Rumsfeld was here," he said, "I'd ask him for his resignation."
Well, at this site, we love to see Bush and his neo-cons put on the back foot and to see Dem Presidential candidate Dr Howard Dean’s star rising. But this is more serious than party politics. Iraqis are dying daily, have little electricity or drinking water and coalition troops are under daily attack! It may not yet be Vietnam 1968 but Mr Blair is walking into a hornet’s nest. He must realise by now that Bush and his cronies won’t do him any favours for his loyalty, rather that they see him as a perfect scapegoat! They’ve already blame him for the UN fiasco and for the Niger Uranium - State of the Union speech fiasco. He has to wonder what next!
What’s the answer to Blair’s quandary? Firstly lay off the BBC, they aren’t the enemy! Second lay into the Conservatives, they are and they’re hypocrites to boot! Thirdly placate the party activists… subtly begin to distance the UK from the Bush regime's madness… let's help fight Al Qaeda but keep clear of North Korea!
They did the job they were asked to do and they did it well! Supposedly rotating out of active duty about now having been replaced by the 4th Infantry and 1st Armoured Divisions, instead they still languish in the Sunni triangle, attacked daily by Iraq irregulars. Little wonder then that one 3ID sergeant says he has his own ‘Most Wanted’ list. "The aces in my deck are Paul Bremer, Donald Rumsfeld, George Bush and Paul Wolfowitz," he said. He was referring to the four men who are running U.S. policy here in Iraq. When the reporter asked, "If Donald Rumsfeld were sitting here in front of us, what would you say to him?" Spc. Clinton Deitz put up his hand. "If Donald Rumsfeld was here," he said, "I'd ask him for his resignation."
Well, at this site, we love to see Bush and his neo-cons put on the back foot and to see Dem Presidential candidate Dr Howard Dean’s star rising. But this is more serious than party politics. Iraqis are dying daily, have little electricity or drinking water and coalition troops are under daily attack! It may not yet be Vietnam 1968 but Mr Blair is walking into a hornet’s nest. He must realise by now that Bush and his cronies won’t do him any favours for his loyalty, rather that they see him as a perfect scapegoat! They’ve already blame him for the UN fiasco and for the Niger Uranium - State of the Union speech fiasco. He has to wonder what next!
What’s the answer to Blair’s quandary? Firstly lay off the BBC, they aren’t the enemy! Second lay into the Conservatives, they are and they’re hypocrites to boot! Thirdly placate the party activists… subtly begin to distance the UK from the Bush regime's madness… let's help fight Al Qaeda but keep clear of North Korea!
Friday, July 04, 2003
Today Tony Blair has begun the process of re-energising the Labour Party behind a progressive agenda. In a speech at a Liverpool community centre he has elaborated on the themes of last months speech to the Fabian Society urging the Labour Party to "remember who the real enemy are".
Let us be clear here… for the first time in over a decade we have been witnessing the Labour Party self destruct in recent months. The iron discipline has collapsed in the face of a real crisis of conscience for the party. Although no one can doubt Tony Blair’s sincerity in going to war in Iraq, he is in the minority when it comes to troubling affair. Allying with Bush, Aznar and Berlusconi, the absence of WMD, Saddam still at large and the continued chaos and guerrilla war in Iraq do not sit well with the British public or the Labour rank and file. The government’s new position on fox hunting, legislation that is sure to be bogged down in the Lords has not placated internal labour frustrations. Tony Blair needs to be wary of falling into Lyndon Johnson’s trap of having all his domestic good works undone by an ill-conceived foreign adventure.
There is little Blair can do about Bush’s failure to appreciate the complexities of a post war Iraq and put enough troops on the ground but he at least can control and reinvigorate the domestic agenda. It was therefore good to hear him say that
"Our historic mission is not to be a party of protest, not to stand outside and complain about what those in power are doing,… No progressive who is truly interested in transforming the life opportunities of all in our society can be content with the passivity and the sheer powerlessness of eternal opposition. Our mission instead is to govern for a progressive purpose - to make changes not just for a few years but to build the good society for generations to come."
Blair went on to say that reforms were essential if progressive values were to win the day, that the "mission" was to renew the welfare state. He said that the government’s aim was to make the public services and welfare state a basis for "opportunity and security for all". We all agree that the health service and education should be at the forefront of the Labour government’s agenda but least he forget the one thing that would get his and the parties polling figures back up… sort out our transport system once and for all!
Let us be clear here… for the first time in over a decade we have been witnessing the Labour Party self destruct in recent months. The iron discipline has collapsed in the face of a real crisis of conscience for the party. Although no one can doubt Tony Blair’s sincerity in going to war in Iraq, he is in the minority when it comes to troubling affair. Allying with Bush, Aznar and Berlusconi, the absence of WMD, Saddam still at large and the continued chaos and guerrilla war in Iraq do not sit well with the British public or the Labour rank and file. The government’s new position on fox hunting, legislation that is sure to be bogged down in the Lords has not placated internal labour frustrations. Tony Blair needs to be wary of falling into Lyndon Johnson’s trap of having all his domestic good works undone by an ill-conceived foreign adventure.
There is little Blair can do about Bush’s failure to appreciate the complexities of a post war Iraq and put enough troops on the ground but he at least can control and reinvigorate the domestic agenda. It was therefore good to hear him say that
"Our historic mission is not to be a party of protest, not to stand outside and complain about what those in power are doing,… No progressive who is truly interested in transforming the life opportunities of all in our society can be content with the passivity and the sheer powerlessness of eternal opposition. Our mission instead is to govern for a progressive purpose - to make changes not just for a few years but to build the good society for generations to come."
Blair went on to say that reforms were essential if progressive values were to win the day, that the "mission" was to renew the welfare state. He said that the government’s aim was to make the public services and welfare state a basis for "opportunity and security for all". We all agree that the health service and education should be at the forefront of the Labour government’s agenda but least he forget the one thing that would get his and the parties polling figures back up… sort out our transport system once and for all!
and 
indicate whether Labour Party numbers are up or down from the previous poll.
